THEN & NOW: One hundred years ago: June 1914

Wednesday

Jun 25, 2014 at 11:00 AM

Take a look back on national and local news from 1914.

By Samuel Olson

June 28 will mark the centenary of an event that profoundly changed the world. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, nephew of octogenarian Franz Joseph and heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife, the Dutchess Sophie, were murdered in Sarajevo, Bosnia, a province of Austria-Hungary. The assassin was a young Serbian (Yugoslav) nationalist. This tragedy in the Balkans, the “tinderbox of Europe,” led to a war that took millions of lives including those of 116,000 Americans.

The murders were followed by ultimatums and counter-ultimatums with Czarist Russia backing Serbia and Germany backing Austria-Hungary. Within weeks, both France and Britain were also at war. On August 2, 1914, Germany invaded neutral Belgium. President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation of neutrality and at the same time condemned the German action. Ironically, on that same day, Wilson had lost his beloved wife Ellen and was inconsolable for weeks following.

Both the Allies and the Central Powers suffered horrendous casualties in the months and years that followed in battles such as Tannenberg, Verdun, Ypes, and the Somme.

Germany’s attempt to break the British blockade with a policy of unrestricted U-boat warfare against the United States forced Wilson to appear before Congress on April 2, 1917, asking for a declaration of war to “make the world safe for democracy.” Both houses of Congress responded four days later with huge majorities for war.

The following are some items from the Rockland Standard highlighting Norwell events from 1914:

Jan. 30, 1914, Report that Ralph Keynes of Boston will soon institute proceedings for a divorce from Jane Ainsworth Keynes, daughter of Mrs. Eaton of Norwell. [Mrs. Eaton had been acquitted the preceding year in the murder of her husband, Admiral Joseph Eaton.]

Feb. 20, 1914, the roads of Norwell are in fine condition for sleighing, and many are taking advantage of it.

Feb. 20, 1914, the annual masquerade ball is to be held at Fogg Hall on Washington’s Birthday. $2.50 in gold will be given to the lady with the most elaborate costume; the same amount will be given to the gentleman with the most grotesque.

Mar. 6, 1914, the Norwell Town Meeting was quiet. Horace Fogg proposed that the town appropriate $15,000 for highway repairs, but the proposal was voted down.

Apr. 24, 1914, with only four seniors, the Norwell School Committee will also graduate members of the junior class.

Aug. 7, 1914, Norwell couple caught in war zone as war breaks out--Former Norwell High School principal Edward Cox and Mrs. Cox were traveling in France at the outbreak of the war and are now reported safe in London. Mrs. Cox is a cousin of Horace Fogg.

Aug. 28, 1914, Calvin West and Mrs. Frances White have attended the Marshfield Fair every year for the past 48. Both will be attending again this year.

Aug. 28, 1914, Otis Corthell is to attend Rockland High School to prepare for Amherst College.

Sep. 18, 1914, Henry Farrar, formerly of Norwell, was in Paris searching for fashion when the war broke out. He is with L. P. Hollander Co., a posh 5thAvenue store. He has written Frank S. Alger describing the bedlam in Paris. He has managed to get safely to London.

Oct. 2, 1914, 80-year-old General Edmund Studley of Norwell marries Mrs. Adelle Randall of Avon. Their attendants were an 8-year-old boy and his 6-year-old sister.

Dec. 11, 1914, the lady teachers of Norwell High School were entertained at dinner by Principal and Mrs. Kierstead.

Dec. 18, 1914, the jury in the case of Harry Fogg against the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad for $25,000 settlement for each of his parents returned a sealed verdict of $6,951 for Ebenezer Fogg and $6,503 for Mrs. Fogg. [In 1913, the couple had been killed in their automobile while crossing near the Kenberma Station at Nantasket.]

My summary of some Norwell news items that appeared in the Rockland Standard in 1914 reveals that life in Norwell followed in its usual uneventful channels. The possibility that the United States would be at war in three years was in no way apparent.